Last week, I mentioned to someone that my youngest daughter, Laurel and her husband, Luke, were headed to Costa Rica. That person’s reply was, “Wait a minute. Don’t you have a child in Alaska? And one in Boston?” Yes, that’s true. “What did you do?” Upon reflection, that seems like a reasonable (not offensive) question. It led me to think … Read More
Caring for Ourselves. It’s not optional.
In the last 4-6 weeks, I’ve presided at the funeral of a young man who died unexpectedly – but also admittedly had health issues and did not take care of himself physically as well as he might have. I’ve been involved in conversations about and with pastors who have left ministry after admitting to personal failure. Finally, I’ve found myself … Read More
2018 Great Lakes Regional Synod Re-cap
As a classis in the RCA, we participate in a regional assembly called the Great Lakes Regional Synod (GLRS). This group, made up of churches from classes from throughout Michigan and Ohio (primarily), meets one time per year on the first Monday of May. Below is a brief summary of the key happenings. Several reports were given by Regional Synod Leaders & … Read More
Growing Churches in Changing Times
Today’s blog post was written by Rev. Tom Grabill. Tom recently had the opportunity to attend the Navigating Change Together conference hosted by the Regional Synod of Canada. Rev. Dr. Tod Bolsinger, author of “Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory” led sessions on the topic of Adaptive Leadership – how to guide our communities with vision and hope through … Read More
Reflections on Ridder
Today’s blog post was written by Rev. Steven DeVries who serves a lead minister at North Holland Reformed. If you’d like more information about Ridder, please contact Rev. Andy Bossardet, RCA Coordinator for Equipping Thriving Congregations (abossardet@rca.org or 616-541-0906) ) 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first … Read More